He claimed he had no idea that he had stopped his car on the actual track, saying his anger affected his judgment. But Judge Austin Issard-Davies refused to accept that Taylor, who has stood several-times as a local councillor, was unaware he had parked on the track.

Prosecutor Nigel Taylor told how ticket inspector Denise Andrews, who had told Taylor the train would not be stopping, saw him leave his vehicle on the crossing at right angles to the track.

He later told police in an interview: "It was a staggeringly stupid thing to do. It was done out of anger and frustration and lack of thought."

But he claimed the rail operator had used the wrong type of train for the service to London, meaning it was too long to stop at stations with short platforms and forcing the train to bypass Berwick.

On the demand for compensation, Taylor said the train would have had to have stopped anyway for 13 minutes to make up the time it would have gained by not stopping at the short-platform stations it was supposed to.

He said: "By not stopping at those stations it would have gained 13 minutes so to blame me for that delay is hypocritical." Taylor was released on bail.